Location, Location, Location: Day 5 of Knit and Crochet Blog Week

Where do you like to indulge in your fiber art craft?

• Not in a car
• Not in a bed
• Not in a line-up
• Not on the beach

But, I will in this chair.

This is where I create. Simple. Sunny. Satisfying.

Welcome Fiber Arts Friday fiberistas to Day 5 of Knit and Crochet Blog Week.

For those of you unfamiliar with Fiber Arts Friday, visit Wonder Why Gal at Wonder Why Alpaca Farm.

Share your fiber art adventures with us each Friday!

Happy fiber arting!

A New Skill: Day 4 of Knit and Crochet Blog Week

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? This is today's question for Knit and Crochet Blog Week.

My answer is steeks! I want to acquire a skill to cut my knitting! This is a technique I want  to learn so I can knit anyone of  Alice Starmore's Norwegian Fishermen Sweaters.

Like this one knit expertly by Oliphaunt Knits.

Photo credit OliphauntKnits

A steek is a method for putting sleeves into a sweater knit in the round by cutting the openings for the armholes into the completed knitting.

For those of you who may not know what a steek is you can read this explanation on wikipedia.

There are some good tutorials out there about steeking like Wendy Johnson's at Knitty.

Any steekers out there?

Happy blogging!

One Great Knitter: Day 3 of Knit and Crochet Blog Week

Today our assignment as part of  Knit and Crochet Blog Week is to write about a knitter whose work you enjoy. A knitter I enjoy following is a fresh and funky Swedish blogger called Dödergök.

Her knitting projects are often colorful, unique and photographed beautifully. These baby blue Quill Socks are enviable. Look at the colors in these Fair-Isle mittens. This lilac Ishbel Shawl is lovely.

She even creates her own designs like these pink and feminine Princess Socks.

If you've been looking at Dödergök's awesome finished objects, you may have noticed that the site is in Swedish. I love her blog so much that I have used my browser's translator to read it. I have even commented in Swedish using Google Translator! I hope I'm saying in Swedish what I think I'm saying...

Happy Knit and Crochet Blog Week!

An Inspirational Pattern: Valentine Triangle Shawl

As you might know, I am participating in Knit and Crochet Blog Week. Today is the day to reveal what pattern you aspire to create. The moment I read this I thought of all of the beautiful lace shawls I'd love to knit particularly the Valentine Triangle Shawl by Margaret Edelson:

 

                                             Photo by edelsma

Knitting lace has never appealed to me, because honestly it scares me! There I said it out loud. Even though I have tackled complex sweaters with cables and color changes, lace looks too hard.

I have tried to tackle my fear of lace. First, I joined a lace knit a long and produced a Ribbed Lace Bolero. Then, I graduated to a simple fan and feather shawl with my Multnomah. However, there were no charts, no fancy lace stitches, and no extraordinary concentration was required.

Having escaped lace, I am now knitting a cable cardigan. This for me is the comfort food of knitting.

Some day I will knit a lace shawl with actual charts...some day.

Happy comfort food knitting!

Knit and Crochet Blog Week: Join in on the Experience

Thanks to reading Jenny's Blog on Knitting, I am joining Knit and Crochet Blog Week from Monday to Sunday of this week.

There is a question to answer each day of the week about your passion for fiber from how did you start to the yarn you yearn to own. Visit Eskimimi Knits for all the info and here is the list of questions.

Today's question is: How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting?

My mom and a learn to knit book taught me how to knit. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I know by the time I was about ten I had experimented with knitting. An abysmal  failure to be able to knit mitts put my knitting career on hold. I turned to crochet which for some reason I picked up much quicker from my mom.

Eventually, I took on knitting again and was knee deep into it by my early teens. I remember one early project was a knit garter stitch apron and hot mat for my mom on Mother's Day.

Some thirty odd years later I'm still both knitting and crocheting. I have taken the the odd hiatus only to return more passionate than ever for these fiber arts.

Happy blogging about your passion!

Multnomah Shawl Unleashed!

My Multnomah Shawl is unpinned from blocking and unleashed on the world. I'm enjoying wearing it as a shawl...

as a scarf...

on the side...

My first shawl project completed. Will it be my last shawl? Probably not.

I'll be looking to see what projects my fellow Fiber Arts Friday-ers have finished this week over at Wonder Why Gals.

Happy Fiber Arting!

Knitting Green Challenge: My Knit Basket for Earth Day

It's Earth Day!

Knitting Daily issued a Knitting Green Challenge for Earth Day. I decided to give it a whirl and came up with a creation. This is my earth friendly knit basket repurposing cotton from a chair slipcover and reusing gift ribbon.

The tools I used were scrap fabric, old ribbon, scissors and large knitting needles.

My pile of cotton scraps from the slipcover were transformed into cotton yarn by cutting one rectangular piece of cotton into one long strip.

Casting on 16 stitches with my 12 mm needles and knitting 12 rows in garter stitch gave me a rectangular piece of knit cotton.

Using my recycled ribbon, I threaded a piece through each corner of the rectangle and tied a bow.

All four corners are tied and magically it's a basket.

It took only an hour to complete.

Lisa of Molto di Moda Designs also took this fun challenge. See her creativity here.

Happy Earth Day Knitting!

On Your Mark, Get Set, Starting Jared Flood's Urban Aran Cardigan

I'm excited to finally begin knitting the Urban Aran Cardigan as done by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. This is the beginning of the back.

I'd been looking for a sweater to knit my hubby for a while and this one turned my knitting crank.

The pattern is from Patons and originally designed for a woman. Jared Flood turned this pullover into a zippered cardigan modifying the pattern to suit a man's physique.

While he talks about his modifications on his blog, they are not detailed in terms of exact changes in shaping and how to accomplish them. You are kinda on your own for that, although there is a Ravelry forum that offers some advice.

I decided to knit a woman's medium. My first modification is to add 2 inches to the length to accommodate hubby's longer torso. I'm adding 1 inch before I start the diagonal side cables. Then, I 'll add the next inch once they are complete. I didn't want to move these diagonal side cables too far down the torso of the cardigan, or they might loose their design effect.

I'm a bit worried about the width. I'm  hoping the cables will draw the knitting in and narrow it.

Wish me luck!

Happy Knitting!

Blocking My Multnomah Shawl: Finally!

My finished Multnomah Shawl is now pinned to the back of my chesterfield drying.

I decided to block it with more pointed than curved edges.

It was a frustrating project but that was my fault. Even though I checked out the Multnomah Shawl KAL to look for pattern problems and interpretations before I started, I still messed up! The fan and feather lace was knit wrong and ended up like a ruffle. Way too many stitches!  I ripped the shawl down to the garter stitch and knit up the fan and feather again. Voila, you see the result above.

When the shawl is dry and I have my chesterfield back, I''ll model my creation.

Happy knitting!

Vintage Metal Buttons: Brass, Silver and Gold

I was searching through one of  my old button tins and found myself picking out some interesting vintage metal buttons. These brass buttons are threaded together with old string strung through the shank. Embossed on them in french is "Canal de Vieux" which means old canal. I can imagine them on a navy blue blazer!

Here's a beautiful silver button with lots of flowery detail. This one would be pretty on a flouncy white blouse.

A gold dragon embellishes this oriental themed button perfect for a silk jacket.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Button Collecting!

My Latest Fiber Art Acquisition: A Vintage Japanese Silk Obi Purse

Look what arrived in my mail today! A purse made from a vintage Japanese silk obi. An obi is a kimono sash .

This fabulous purse was created by Tamami ko bag on Etsy. I was lurking at this shop for quite a while until her 20% off sale. Then, I struck and grabbed this exquisite purse. This purse is complete with a lovely zipper charm and a kimono tassel with beads. Talk about fiber art!

I love purses and I love this one!

Happy purse hunting!

Using My Stash of Finished Objects: My Crocheted Vintage Circle Bag

My crocheted vintage circle bag was rescued from my unused stash of finished objects. I crocheted this bag last spring. All it needed were buttons. This week it became the owner of two chunky white vintage buttons. One button for the front pocket, and...

...one for the top closure.

Now, it is ready for me to use!

This is the picture of the bag from the original 1950's vintage pattern.

Using single crochet and Bernat cotton yarn, this bag was an easy inexpensive crochet project.

I wonder what my fellow fiberistas are up to this Fiber Arts Friday? See you over at Wonder Why Gals to find out!

Happy Fiber Arting!

Nicky Epstein's Little Red Jacket: My Mom's Latest Crochet Creation

My Mom is a bit more prolific with her fiber creations than me these days. While I'm still slogging through my Multnomah Shawl, she just finished crocheting Nicky Epstein's Little Red Jacket using an alpaca blend yarn by Sirdar. Reverse single crochet gives it texture.

The pattern is from Nicky Epstein's Crocheting On the Edge. Hubby gave it to me on my last birthday.

Of course, this book is all about the crochet edgings. The Little Red Jacket is about the ruffles.

Although the pattern is on Ravelry, there are no projects for the Little Red Jacket. It's only in one queue. I'll be uploading my Mom's to Ravelry soon.

Happy Crocheting!

No Easter Bonnet?: Wear A Crocheted Easter Jacket

This is my mom wearing her crocheted Easter jacket. Easter pastels of yellow, green, pink and blue make it perfect for the day!

My mom crocheted this in the shell stitch using Patons Canadiana.

Happy Easter!